maskormenacelogs | i followed fires toward the sound, cold upon the mountain to which i'm bound.

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i followed fires toward the sound, cold upon the mountain to which i'm bound.

WHO: Residents of the Meadows & OPEN to visitors
WHERE: The Meadows outside De Chima
WHEN: Throughout May
WHAT: Day-to-day encounters at the magical farm commune.
WARNINGS: Look to the subject headers.
NOTES: This is a mingle/catch-all log. Start your own threads! Tag around!

[The Meadows, being a place largely created from magic, has a subtle strangeness to it. From the outside, it could be taken for any old Appalachian farm: scattered barns and stables, a lakeside castle, a roomy wooden farmhouse, a 19th century stone chapel that some hoodlum graffitied. There's evidence that the farm is occupied by unsupervised teenagers, too, in the donut tracks that mar the grass and the remains of regular bonfires. As long as the monsters are out of sight, everything seems ordinary.

Once inside the farmhouse, however, the odd discrepancies become more apparent. The layout of the rooms doesn't quite match how the house appeared from the outside. There are windows where windows shouldn't be, stairways like vertical mazes to secluded rooms, and views from rooms that look into other worlds entirely. Half of the appliances work without any source of electricity, fresh coffee's always waiting in the pot without anyone having to brew it, and the refrigerator never seems to run out of leftover pizza. Things are simply wrong about the place, for all the cozy warmth of its design.]

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[ Matthew likes Hange quite a bit. She's cheery and interesting and enjoys Ronan's dream stuff, all excellent qualities in a person! So he's happy to hang out with her when he can. The first time they rode together, Matthew shared his favorite horse but today he's got Lu and while Hange rides another mare with a bit more spunk. They spent a good hour clopping around the Meadows, taking turns pointing out anything of interest that they happen to pass, and the afternoon so far has been rather lovely and uneventful. It's only when they get back to the stables that things start to go sideways, literally. Lucy, who has never once shown the slightest hint of anything but gentle cooperation, comes to a halt just outside the barn, without any prompting from Matthew. ]

Hey girl, what's wro-- whoa!

[ The whoa comes when the horse sinks forward onto her knees, throwing off Matthew's balance in the process. It's more luck than skill that he manages to clamber off of her back just before she rolls over on her side in the grass, otherwise he might've gotten himself pinned. ]

What--?

[ He spins around to give Hange a look of wide-eyed alarm, just as her horse starts to go the same way as Lucy. ]

[Hange immediately slips her feet from the stirrups and whips off the horse, getting clear of the falling animal. She's not unfamiliar with how dangerous a horse falling on top of a rider can be and is glad to see Matthew get safely clear.]

We didn't ride them that hard! [Because usually when horses founder, it's because they've been pushed too much, too long, and that's where her mind first goes. Immediately when she says it she realizes that isn't possible.]

Did they eat something poisonous-? [it might explain both of them falling ill at the same time, but that doesn't make sense either]

[ Matthew looks from one horse to the other and back again, stunned. A pit starts to open up in his stomach, growing wider as he kneels down next to Lu. He places a hand on her side. Her breathing is deep and steady, nothing the least bit unhealthy or distressed about it. That doesn't make him feel better. When he speaks, his voice is thin with anxiety. ]

I don't think that's it.

[ He strokes his other hand through her mane, willing her to wake up, but she doesn't. ]

We've gotta-- we should check on the others.

[ Then he'll know for sure. But he's too afraid, he can't even make himself stand up on his own. ]

[Beside her own mare Hange is doing the same thing, checking her horse over, even pulling one eye open to inspect it. The eye is clear and unclouded and contracts when exposed to light, and everything seems normal, except for it all being clearly wrong.]

The others...?

[why would they be incapacitated? Ronan told her once that without him his creations fall into sleep, but she's too floored by the suddenness of all this to connect the dots at the moment.

She looks at Matthew, still kneeling next to her horse. Then she pushes herself to her feet and comes and takes hold of his shoulder, pulling at him.]

C'mon now, kiddo! Up we get!

[ When Hange grabs his shoulder, he reaches up to take hold of her arm for extra support, and pulls himself to his feet. It takes effort, but Matthew Lynch always always tries his hardest, even when his mouth is dry and his body feels heavy and made of butterflies at the same time.

He very much doesn't want to go into that barn, but he follows Hange when she does. A silence fills the place and the stalls are empty, or at least that's how they look at first glance. Matthew knows better. Abruptly childlike, he reaches for Hange's hand, his breath quickening. ]

Oh no.

[Hange reflexively pulls away a little at the touch to her hand. She's not really a touchy person in most circumstances. Then she realizes that Matthew is upset, frightened even, and allows him to take her hand, which is warm and hard-callused.]

Asleep? [What... wait. Ah, wait.]

They're all... asleep? Just like that.

[ He would under any other circumstances realize they aren't close enough for him to grab her hand like that, but she's the only one here and he is quite afraid. ]

This is what happens. When-- [ His voice breaks, this time with sadness, and he has to try again. ] When Ronan leaves.

[ Ronan is gone, he's gone again and half the Meadows is leaving with him. Matthew included, eventually. ]

I don't know what to do. I should-- I should do something.

[ He doesn't actually know how much time he has. ]

[He can hold her hand for now at least and... yes, she remembers Ronan mentioning that.

It'll be a shame if he's gone permanently. She'll have lost access to these horses and her specimen at once.]

We can't move those horses. Even the both of us won't be strong enough for that.

[Big boys she might be able to lug around. Not horses.] Matthew! [Squeezing his hand firmly.] Courage. We aren't being attacked. It's simply a natural event that occurs here.

[ For Matthew it's more than a shame: it's devastating. Ronan's his dearly loved brother, not a specimen, and he's gone, and Matthew's battery life is running out.

But Hange says courage! so he tries to think of all the brave people he knows: his brothers, Noah, Gansey, Lucy, Magnus, there are too many to count. ] Yeah, it's just-- it's just what happens. [ His hands are clammy, and he doesn't feel brave, more like he's pretending. ]

We can't lift the horses. [ Or the cows, they'll stay where they are too. But what about Ronan's other dreams, what about-- ]

Henrietta, [ he says suddenly, turning urgent blue eyes on Hange. ] Maybe we can find her, maybe we can bring her inside, before... anything else happens.

[Hange simply nods encouragingly. Faking it is halfway to making it.]

... All right. Henrietta is large, and she'll be awkward to move. We'll get a blanket and roll her onto that. Then we can pull the blanket to a sheltered area.

[That's more feasible than taking the weird bird kid in a fireman's carry. Still allowing Matthew to hold her hand, Hange heads back towards the barn. There ought to be some larger blankets, to warm the horses on colder nights. One of those will be suitable.]

[ When Matthew's whatever-passes-as-his-brain fails him, Hange comes up with a plan. As much as he's been trying to become more of a real, independent person, in this moment he's relieved to have someone to rely on completely, someone with the kind of sense Ronan didn't dream into him. When she mentions a blanket and starts in the direction of the supplies, the pieces click together even in Matthew's sluggish mind and he hurries along at her side, dropping her hand only at the very last moment so that he can dig out what they need. ]

Here, this one, [ he offers, producing a rather large and for some reason violently purple blanket. ] She likes being around the church. Maybe we can take her there.

Umm. [ He swallows. He should say something now, right away, just in case. So Hange isn't surprised. (This is not, for the record, how he'd prefer this reveal to go down.) ] I've gotta hurry. It's-- It's going to happen to me, too. So...

Then let's get a blanket for you too.

[She said that reflexively, the way she reflexively began reacting to this disaster. Hange's life has been so full of surprise battles to the death and various other troubles, by now it's completely normal to fall into survival mode and start spitting out plans plus rapping out orders.

Then her brain catches up with her.]

Wait - what?

[ Matthew's stomach does an uncomfortable flip at Hange's first reply, which is suddenly a little too practical.

Except, wait, if she's saying "what", maybe he didn't explain it well enough. He takes another breath, and answers while reaching (a bit shakily) for a second blanket. ]

Ronan, he dreamed me. When we were kids. [ It's much easier for him to say he's Ronan's dream than to focus on this particular part of being Ronan's dream, the falling asleep part. He realizes something else right before he says it out loud. ] I don't know who all knows.

[The mood changed suddenly and Hange isn't sure why, entirely. But there's much more important things to wonder about. The gobsmacked way she's staring at him makes it clear that, no, Hange did not know Matthew was a dream kid.]

... I see.

[Ronan what the fuck what the FUUUUUUUUUUCKKKkk ok she should've guessed this could happen but it's different hearing about it in the abstract than MEETING a dreamed human]

Well, don't worry, Matthew. I'll make sure to get you somewhere safe when this happens.

[ ... Oh right, this part doesn't feel great either. The staring. Matthew is reminded of when he found out what he is, waking up from what he thought thought had been a short nap and wandering into the kitchen like it was any other day, only to find Adam and Gansey staring at him like he'd grown an extra head. Not that he could blame them then, and not that he can blame her now.

He isn't a regular kid. He wondered at first, but by now he's accepted that much as fact. But then she promises to keep him safe, and-- ]

Thanks. Thank you. [ He wants to hold her hand again, this time out of gratitude, but he can't because his arms are full of blankets.

Blankets. Right. Henrietta. The reminder kickstarts him back into motion; he's still looking at Hange but his feet are carrying him towards the door. ]

Once we find Henrietta, I can-- I'll go back to the house, to my room. Then you won't have to do anything.

One problem at a time! Henrietta first, and then we'll make sure you're all right.

[She'll round up one of the horses to help drag him to shelter --

Wait, no, that's impossible right now.

What an inconvenience. There ought to be at least one or two real animals at the Meadows, for situations just like this. Ah, well - there's nothing to be done for it now. Hange follows Matthew. He's so tall, Hange is tall for a woman from her homeland and background but she has to pump it up to keep pace with him.]

Well, you know Henrietta's hunting grounds best. Lead the way, kiddo. [She and Ronan met Henrietta near the woods, so if Matthew doesn't take steps to lead, Hange will guide them that way.]

Okay. Okay. One problem at a time. [ Hange's right about that, too. ]

She likes the church, [ Matthew says, forgetting that he already mentioned as much. And that's the direction he takes, holding the blankets tight against his chest. He's anxious and pressed for time, unintentionally forcing Hange into an even faster pace as they hike across the fields towards the chapel, and then straight into the woods behind it.

Normally ever the chatterbox, he doesn't say anything more until they find Henrietta--by pure luck, she isn't too deep in the woods at all. There's a scrap of shiny fabric on the ground near her claws, one of Betty's gifts. ]

Oh, Henrietta. [ Matthew drops the blankets and rushes to her, running a hand over her feathers. She isn't slumped onto the ground like a puppet with cut strings. She appears settled, her beak tucked against her back like any other bird taking a nap, which makes him glad and breaks his heart a little at the same time. He doesn't know which he feels more. It hurts to see her like this, to know she can't wake up on her own. ]

[Hange doesn't complain about the pace, and takes to the silence easily. She's in Work Mode right now, so to an extent she appreciates Matthew's silence and focus.

Hange takes one of the dropped blankets and unfolds it. It's scratchy and nubbly, but will serve well enough for dragging over the ground because it's thick. It's also large; Hange folds it in two, making it a manageable size but also large enough for Henrietta.]

C'mon, kiddo. She's asleep, not ill. Let's get her loaded on here and move her under shelter.

[ Matthew hears Hange's instructions, but this time he needs a few seconds before he can make himself jump back into action. ]

She might-- [ He swallows, looking at Henrietta because he can't look at Hange. ] She might never wake up. [ Ronan's beautiful bird monster may not be ill, and she may not be suffering, but if Ronan never comes back then she'll sleep forever. It's not all that different from dying.

Matthew gives the faintest shudder, trying and failing to roll that thought off of his shoulders. Ronan will come back. Of course he will. The Porter always brings him back.

And if it doesn't, it's not like Matthew will ever know any better anyway. (That thought doesn't comfort him at all.) ]

[Right... he's a civilian, not one of her young soldiers. He's so much less prepared to deal with these possibilities than any of the kids she usually works with would be.

She can't let that fact slow them down, but she can afford to be comforting. Hange moves nearer and reaches to squeeze his shoulder firmly.]

Courage, Matthew. We'll square her away so she can rest safely. Don't think about the future and things we can't prevent; think about what we can do right now.

[ Matthew looks at Hange, and there's fear in his eyes, but he nods shakily. He wishes there were a way out. That Ronan would reappear right in the nick of time. That Henrietta would stir, stretch her wings, and give his head an affectionate tap with her beak the way she so often has before. That he didn't have to fall asleep too. ]

This is just what happens, [ he reminds himself. And then he helps Hange get to work.

Henrietta is much lighter than she looks, being more or less a bird; it's her size that creates the need for a team effort to get her tipped onto the blanket. By the time they manage it, she's looking a bit ruffled in the feathers, and Matthew wants to fix her up and smooth her out but he doesn't know if there's time. ]

Like this? [ he asks Hange, grabbing corners of the blanket. In his head, he tells himself not yet not yet not yet. ]

Yes. Pull her this way. Where's the closest cover? The church? If we can move towards the house as we put her away, that's for the best.

[As she'll have to get Matthew into the house... well, in with the horses will do in a pinch, but she'd prefer to leave him with his friends. She brushes at his hand, signaling he should drop one corner.]

I'll help. We must hurry.

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i followed fires toward the sound, cold upon the mountain to which i'm bound.

Matthew and Hange; backdated to May 2nd

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